Known battery chargers for electric vehicles can be either configured as on-board chargers adapted to be built in on board of the vehicle or as stationary fast chargers installed in a power station. On-board chargers can be plugged to a single phase 230V-16 A mains power socket at the home of the user so that the battery may be charged overnight with a charging power in the order of magnitude of 3.5 kW. Fast chargers may be powered by a 3-phase 400 V-40 A mains source and may have a charging power of several tens of kW so as to charge the battery to 80-100% of its full capacity in a time of 10 to 30 min. They require a car connection, for example, according to the specifications of the CHAdeMo standard for electric cars.
Both types of battery chargers require the use of high quality electronic components that can withstand high voltages and high currents and are therefore relatively expensive.